First off, after welcoming the audience, Divisi whet the crowd's appetite with a quick performance of "Walking On Broken Glass", which was rockin' like always. The Harmonics then gave a rousing performance, ending with their ever-growing-in-popularity version of Metallica's "The Memory Remains". Now I'd heard the recording before, but watching soloist Bryan Tan go nuts on stage was an experience unto itself. And y'know, as a general rule I am not a metal fan. When I was an angry rebellious teenager I dyed my hair green and listened to punk rock. But by the time Tan leapt up onto the shoulders of his group-mates for the "la-da-da-da" parts, I was ready to grow out my hair and buy a flying V guitar. Maybe some tight leather pants too. Seriously, this guy reinvents the term "rocking out".
After the Harmonics was this writer's very own group, Dulcet. We had been asked last-minute that Wednesday night to compete after UC Berkeley's Golden Overtones had dropped out. Needless to say, as a first-year group we were thrilled to be there and just having the opportunity to be on the ICCA stage after four months of existence was a wonderful experience.
Artists in Resonance were up next, delivering a solid performance and receiving 2nd place for it. Nice solos, especially on the Postal Service's "Such Great Heights", and a nice group blend made them very enjoyable and pleasant to listen to. They served well to calm down my frantically beating heart that hadn't yet recovered from being onstage.
Then Outspoken came out and immediately grabbed some attention on their opener with slick choreography combined with relentless backgrounds and rock-solid VP. They followed it up with the Barenaked Ladies' "What A Good Boy", featuring a beautiful solo by VPist Kenny Lowe, in addition to lush and seamless backgrounds. It was like sitting by a cozy fire under a blanket in the middle of winter. With hot chocolate. They ended by singing "Macho Man", easily the night's highlight. I have not laughed that hard at an a cappella performance since the first time seeing Divisi's "Yeah". The physical make-up of Outspoken's personnel didn't hurt the visual effect of the song either. These guys are huge. At first I wondered if OSU had mixed up their buses and sent the football team by mistake. Then I talked to a few of them and realized they were far too nice for football players. (Ha! Ha! A big hearty JK, football players! Please don't hurt me!) Outspoken took home 1st place.
UC Berkeley's Noteworthy rounded out the night's competition, receiving 3rd place. Their all-original, no-cover set, in addition to some creative and well-placed choreography, was a breath of a cappella fresh air. I hope to see them again next year.
Following the competitors were On The Rocks, and hosts of the night Divisi, who both delivered entertaining performances. Many people have raved about how good both groups are, so I'll bypass all the stuff about talent and instead talk about how nice they are. The women of Divisi were terrific hosts and made us feel very welcome, and members of both Eugene groups came by backstage to be friendly and include our scrappy beginning group along with the old established ones. Their courtesy was very appreciated.
The one other surprise of the night came not from the groups but from their fans. An army of Outspoken fans had made the trip from Corvallis to Eugene, and in a parody of the football rivalry that exists between U of O and OSU, they had dressed up in full face/body paint, mohawks, some had "I love Outspoken" written on their chests, all in the orange and black OSU colors. Props to their fans for taking audience support beyond wild applause. Overall it was a great show, thanks to all the groups and everybody who came for making it a rockin' night for a cappella.
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